


Voltron Meets Voltron!

by Nameless_Knight



Category: Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Actually has Voltron in it, Becomes Comedic, Gen, Starts Actiony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:43:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7890631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nameless_Knight/pseuds/Nameless_Knight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Voltron Paladins have reunited, but the Galra Empire's attacks are as vicious as ever.  But some much appreciated help comes from an old school team of heroes.  One that's all-too familiar and yet entirely different.  Voltron: Legendary Defender meets Voltron: Defender of the Universe!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blast from the Past!

**Chapter 1: Blast from the Past!**

"Keith, Pidge keep that guy in place!"

Voltron's Blazing Sword locked with the equally enormous sword of the Robeast floating in front of them. The Green Lion's head shot forward and clamped down on its metal knuckles. That was one problem taken care of.

Who'd have thought they'd be in bigger trouble together than apart?

A quick kick from the other Robeast sent Voltron careening to the side. Part of the sword Robeast was torn off from the Green Lion's grip.

One Robeast was difficult enough. Two might be insurmountable.

"Damage report!"

"Our armor's thinning out, Shiro!" Hunk shouted back. The face on the viewscreen keeping his panic in check for now. "But the Castle's taking a bigger beating than we are!"

Shiro spared a glance over at the Castle Ship floating dead in space. The engines hadn't been repaired from the surprise attack and the Galran fleet were shooting the shields to their limit.

"We need to take out those ships," Shiro commanded. The Robeasts had drawn Voltron's attention and let the fleet sneak in. Time to rectify that. "Separate Voltron; Keith, Lance take those ships out. The rest of us will fly interference for the Robeasts." There weren't any good options in this scenario.

"Those things have been tossing Voltron around like a ragdoll, the Lions can't cut it!" Lance screamed at him.

"It'll be just like Balmera, Lance," Shiro tried to reassure him. "We got out of that we'll get out of this."

"But—!"

"The longer you complain the worse it gets," Keith cut Lance off.

Lance gave a frustrated, "Right."

"Voltron, disengage!"

The Legendary Defender undid its bonds and the five lions flew free. Red and Blue streaked towards the half-dozen Galran cruisers laying siege while Black, Green and Yellow stayed to hold off the Robeasts.

"Pidge, Hunk, you two deal with the insect Robeast, the knight-type is mine."

"The Yellow Lion can take those hits better Shiro," Hunk offered.

"We're not here to get hit, just make sure you're in one piece when Keith and Lance get back."

"Roger!" both said.

Shiro pushed Black Lion's accelerator to its limit and charged at the knight Robeast. Its sword swung at the lion but Shiro dodged around the swing.

He glanced back to see Yellow and Green harassing the insect. In the distance, explosions flared up at the Galran fleet. It was working.

"Princess, how are repairs coming?"

"We'll have weapons back in a few ticks, but the engines won't be finished anytime soon. We need the lions to effect outer hull repairs."

Galra knew their positions. Reinforcements and more Robeasts would be on their way. "Roger, we'll wrap this up and get the Castle back flying in no time."

The knight Robeast was getting faster with its swings but Shiro kept the black lion narrowly dodging. He fired a few shots at the Robeast to no effect. Lions just weren't cut out for fighting giant robots.

Shiro flipped around the Robeast's back. The whole view of the battle laid out before him.

That was when he realized his mistake.

"Guys form Voltron now!" he fought away the panic at the situation.

Too late.

The massive thrusters on the knight-type's back flared up and he rocketed forward with a speed that would blow past the red lion. Its sword contorted, became a lance. It'd ride its "horse" and skewer the Castle's walls.

To make it even worse, the insect-type grabbed Hunk in yellow lion and rocketed off in the opposite direction.

Galra's plans were getting better!

Shiro dulled Hunk's cries of terror. He gave platitude, reassured him as his mind raced towards a new plan.

"Keith, get back to the Castle and stop that Robeast; Lance deal with the fleet and then get back to helping Keith. Pidge…" he weighed the resources at his disposal, "Pidge, get to the Castle, I'm going after Hunk." Shiro turned the black lion around and chased after the fleeing Robeast.

Pidge gave an uncharacteristically grim acknowledgement. But Allura wasn't taking this. "Both of you go after Yellow Lion, the Castle can handle one Robeast. Voltron's more important."

"We're all important."

"Shiro!" Pidge yelled out. "I'm reading a dimensional tear!"

Galran reinforcements or was the Robeast jumping away with Hunk? "Where!?"

"Right next to the Robeast."

The latter. He made the right call.

Black quickly gained on the Robeast. Its mass and Yellow's struggles were impacting its egress.

The black backdrop of the battlespace was tore asunder by a wretch of teals and lightning akin to a wormhole. A new type of Galran wormhole?

The insect-type stalled and Shiro took advantage. He jetted in and tore off one of the arms keeping Yellow tied down. The two lions flew backwards, with Shiro keeping a wary eye on whatever was coming through that portal. He gave the others the good news and their return path. (With Hunk giving his heartfelt thanks all the while.)

The Robeast raised its dozen thin arms.

"Evasive maneuvers," Shiro called out. A few lasers, even from a Robeast wouldn't stop them now.

Streaks of green fired out from the Robeast and the two lions dodged them all. But it also nagged at Shiro that a substantial number of them just weren't aimed at them. It was too far away to influence the Castle defense.

Maybe he was being paranoid, but he wouldn't underestimate Galra again.

"Spread out Hunk." The two lions put some more space between each other.

Just in time, as two white canisters launched from the Robeast's chest. It was slower than the lasers but still gained against their momentum. They wouldn't hit. The lions were clear out of range after just a few seconds.

No, that was before. "More distance Hunk." No underestimating Galra.

The two lions put enough space to fit the Castle between them. The two canisters just flew down that middle.

And exploded.

White gunk dominated the view to Shiro's left and enveloped any view of Hunk. "You okay over there Hunk?"

"Yeah, it all missed—wait, it's expanding!"

Shiro jammed on his side-burners but the shockwave of the white struck the black lion. He checked his sensors. It, it didn't do anything?

"Report Hunk."

"System's are all good over here Shiro."

 _Was this just a delay tactic?_ "Let's get back to the Castle." He angled his momentum forward again. And flew off to the side. "What's going on?"

"That gunk's all in our engines," said Hunk. "I think this is some sort of spider web."

Insect-spider. He'd been off Earth too long. It made sense.

"Shiro where are you!?" Keith's voice came in over comms.

"We've been stuck-up by the Robeast," he answered. "We'll be there soon, hold out."

"We can't!" Lance screamed over another line. The Galran cruisers must have been destroyed. "This thing's cutting through us."

"Shiro, we can shoot this stuff off each other," Hunk advised.

"Do it!"

A sudden thunk pushed Black Lion towards the Castle. But the sight grew more distant. "What happened!?"

"The Robeast's got us!"

They were lions in a spider's web.

"Hunk, clear this thread off me now!"

"We have to reconfigure the lions' power output so we don't damage each other."

They didn't have time for this. "Cut me free now, I'll cut off the Robeast's thread and carry Yellow Lion until we're clear to change Black Lion's weapon output."

"No," Hunk shook his head, "shoot me free instead. Yellow Lion's armor is thicker and Black's still damaged from that kick."

No time to argue. "Firing solutions locked. Hold on Hunk."

"I am."

Shiro took aim at the Yellow Lion. Even if they were pressed for time, he was aiming at a friend. He wasn't going to rush this. He took a deep breath to steady his hands—the Black Lion lurched forward. "What happened?"

"We're free?" Hunk was as bewildered as Shiro was.

"This is Voltron Force Commander Keith," _Keith?_ "calling other Voltron's Robot Lions."

The channels were flooded with everyone wondering just what that was and Lance making digs at Keith for calling himself commander.

Shiro kept his focus. He had Robeasts to defeat. He twisted around Black Lion to look at the insect Robeast once more.

He lost his focus and all the pressures of time fell away.

Flying behind the Robeast was another Voltron. It had some superficial differences (blocky, the green lion lacked a shield) but it was, without mistake, Voltron.

"This is Voltron Force Commander Keith to other Voltron pilots, we'll take care of this Robeast, can you handle the other?"

The insect-type was already moving to confront the other Voltron.

"This is Voltron Paladin Lead Shirogane. The black and yellow lions have been ensnared by the Robeast's web, it'll take us a minute to clear out."

"Roger," other Keith responded, "we'll give you a hand. Are your lions ice resistant?"

Black Lion's information flowed into his mind. "Roger that."

"Shiro!" Princess Allura's voice came in. "You can't trust them, this might be another one of Zarkon's tricks."

Maybe. But this wasn't a situation Zarkon needed tricks.

Another woman's voice came over the coms, "We've dealt with fake Voltrons before, but I assure you that we've come in peace."

"We don't have much choice Princess."

"Me?" the other woman said.

_Two princesses, huh?_

The other Voltron gripped the insect-Robeast with its hands and angled the blue and yellow lions towards Shiro and Hunk. From their mouths erupted a blue energy beam that washed over both Paladin Lions. The temperature in his cockpit chilled, even through the heaters and suit temperature regulator.

When the beams stopped Shiro moved his controls. The ice broke free, temperature rose and the Black Lion moved once more. "Thanks, uh, Commander Keith," said Shiro, with Hunk following suit right after.

"You're welcome," Commander Keith said back, "now go give that other Robeast a thrashing it won't forget."

"We were planning on it."

"Yeesh, you could be a little more thankful guy," a new voice rang over the comms.

"Knock it off Lance," Commander Keith called the new voice out.

 _They have a Lance too?_ But he couldn't be bothered by such thoughts anymore. "Hunk, max speed back to the Castle."

"Roger Shiro."

The two Lions rocketed back towards their besieged base, Black quickly overtaking the other Lion.

Shiro focused back on the deteriorating condition of the Castle. A few attacks had breached the shields, parts of the hull were cratered and smoking. But Keith, Pidge and Lance had done an admirable job taking out the ships and tying up the Robeast. The other Lions were still in fighting condition, though Blue had a few scorch marks and one of Red's limbs wasn't moving. Green was in the best shape of the three.

The Castle's few remaining cannons joined with the Lions to pepper the Robeast with shots but the thick armor of the machine bore it all effortlessly.

"Castle give us some covering fire," Shiro ordered off to Allura. "Guys, form up for Voltron!"

"Roger Shiro!" they barked back.

On que the Castle's full arsenal opened up and engulfed the Robeast entirely. The other Lions flew back, and into formation. When the Castle guns cleared, the Robeast emerged without damage, but the Lions were already primed. The forceshield protecting the combination process came up and the Robeast stabbed futilely trying to interrupt.

The tide of power flowed into the Black Lion and back into Shiro. The feet and legs formed: Blue and Yellow. The arms and body formed: Red and Green. And the head formed: Black.

The Legendary Defender was back in action!

"Any ideas guys?" Shiro was open to suggestions.

"My Lion managed to bite off some of its plating on the knuckles," Pidge reminded him. "The joints and extremities should be weaker." Green Lion latched unto the right elbow of the Robeast.

"It still took the Castle cannons without a scratch," Hunk interrupted. "It'd take us days to claw off any more armor." Yellow Lion attempted a punch towards the Robeast's face, but it dodged.

"You got a better idea Hunk?" asked Lance. Robeast's thrusters went hot and it tore free from Green Lion's grip.

The Robeast arced around. "Yeah, but it'd require you and Keith working in tandem."

"I'm putting my vote in the 'slowly clawing it apart' plan," Lance shot back. The Robeast lunged with its lance.

Voltron's red arm battered away the Robeast's attack. "Let's just stab it in the face," said Keith.

"Knock it off," Shiro shouted at them. "Hunk: details." Green arm swung and clubbed the Robeast's head to no effect.

"We can use the Blue Lion's freeze blaster and the Red Lion's heat blaster to rapidly heat and cool the Robeast's armor. This will make it malleable enough for the Blazing Sword to cut through." The Robeast flipped backwards and heel-kicked into Voltron's chin.

"Sounds like a good idea," Shiro said. "Any idea how long that would take?" Red and Green gripped together and slammed down on the top of the Robeast's head.

"I'm not exactly a blacksmith or expert on freaky Galra metals here." The Robeast brought its free arm up and blocked the double-fist attack.

 _Good point._ "Pidge?" Blue Lion kicked forward and scored a hit into the Robeast's face.

"Target the neck," said Pidge.

"Gotcha pal!" The already prepped Blue Lion fired its freeze blaster and iced over the whole upper body. "Ha, see if you can match that Keith!"

The ice was already cracking as Voltron shifted to give Red Lion a better angle. "Maybe next time you don't stick out into my targeting zone," Keith replied before firing the heat blaster.

The ice melted, and came right back from the Blue Lion. "I do my best work when I stick out of a crowd."

Heat shot. "Voltron's about teamwork!"

Ice shot. "And there's no Keith in 'team'."

Heat. "That doesn't even make sense."

Ice. "I've outwitted you again Keith, I've outwitted you again."

The Robeast was as sick of their combined shots as the rest of the Paladins were of their bickering. It used the lance to block the ice (fitting) and backed away. Shiro moved Voltron to pursue, keith firing the heat blasters after the target. The constant harassment had done some damage, however slight, and the Robeast's movements had dulled. It was wind compared to the lightning of earlier.

"Pidge," said Shiro, "you've got control of the Blazing Sword. We need Keith's Red Lion for the plan."

"R-roger Shiro," Pidge answered back, a twinge of nervousness voiced.

Keith was better with the sword in and out of the Lions but…

The Blazing Sword was formed in the left hand and shined like a star in the light.

The Robeast saw its chance and came back fully eager to a sword duel. The metal to its neck had warped, Pidge's idea was working.

Par for the course.

Shiro shifted the balance for the Blazing Sword to receive the blow. He had to fill in for Pidge's inexperience with the Blazing Sword. Maybe have everyone train up with the sword after this.

The two colossal weapons struck and locked together. Pidge screamed over the comms. "Does it always shake this much when the Sword hits Keith?"

"Pretty much," he replied.

"I think it'd be better if I just lock the Green Lion's jaw on its fist."

The Robeast pressed in. "Any time Lance!" Keith shouted.

"Hey don't worry, I got this." The Blue Lion kicked back up and the Robeast's forward momentum curved Voltron's upper body back.

Good thing they were in space; Voltron wouldn't be able to maintain balance like this under gravity.

The Blue Lion unleashed another blast from its freeze cannon but the Robeast had grown wise to it now. Its free hand intercepted the blast and shielded its face. The ice froze the hand to the body.

"Pidge sword!" Keith yelled.

"Right!" Green Lion loosed its grip and Voltron was pushed back. Keith's red lion darted forward and took control of the blazing sword. Two lions beat one arm and they forced the Robeast back now!

The ice shattered but the blue lion snapped its jaw right on the Robeast's hand trapping it outright again. Green Lion dropped its grip on the blazing sword to lock back to the Robeast's sword hand. The two lions pulled apart the Robeast's defenses. Yellow Lion bite into the Robeast's side and Voltron stepped up on their enemy. The Blazing Sword aimed downward to the Robeast's helmet.

No witty one-liners or remarks. Keith drove the sword straight through the Robeast's neck. It plunged in like the metal had simply become water. The Robeast's struggles ceased as Keith drove the blade until the guard hit its head.

Welcome sighs of relief came in over the comms. A far cry from the cheers of victory over their first Robeast wins.

The Blazing Sword pulled free and Voltron kicked away the Robeast. Its explosion was larger than the Castle of the Lions and blew apart what derelicts of Galra still floated about with it.

"Paladins," Princess Allura said, "reposition yourselves near the Castle."

The other Robeast; the other Voltron.

Shiro set the flight path back and angled Voltron to see the situation of the other fight.

They'd already won.

Long-range sensors only picked up the debris of the insect Robeast and the blocky Voltron was already halfway to the Castle. Closer than the Paladins were.

"This is Commander Keith, Voltron Force. We saw your fight, good show."

"Not as good as us though," a squeaky male voice followed.

"It's good to see Voltron's the defender no matter what dimension," the other woman's voice followed.

"Whoever you are stop right there," Princess Allura commanded. To her no doubt relief, the blocky Voltron did stop. "Identify yourselves now or we'll open fire."

"Jee, that's some welcoming mat you people rolled out," another man's voice sarcastically chimed in. "Maybe you'd prefer the Robeast."

"Knock it off Lance," a man said with an accent Shiro couldn't quite place.

But any thoughts about the accent was blown away by the return of that name. Keith, Lance… and a Princess?

"Trust us, we're no friends of King Zarkon," Commander Keith announced.

"We've no reason to believe your words," said Allura.

She was being overly defensive, but considering the circumstances… "Thanks for your help, other Voltron." That was so awkward to say. "But we request you stay at a distance."

"Hey come on," Lance interjected, "they just helped save our butts and you don't wanna give'em an invite?"

"This could be one of Galra's tricks," Keith replied.

"Why'd they help us then?" said Hunk.

"Hunk's right," said Lance.

The other Lance's voice came in after. "At least some of them have their heads screwed on right."

"Are you really so eager to be handcuffed to another alien tree Lance?" joked Pidge.

"Hey!"

"Oh yeah," said Hunk. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

Sounded like it was five to one against.

"Man, you pilots sure know how to make a guy feel welcome," the accented man said.

"I understand your worry," said Commander Keith, "but we're on your side. We have plenty of experience with King Zarkon's evil tricks trying to get spies into our midst."

"Thanks for your understanding," said Shiro. It was real mature of them. Just made the rejection a more bitter pill to swallow.

"Please," the other Princess said, "hear us out. We know it can be difficult to trust given the circumstances. It would just be like King Zarkon to sacrifice his robot soldiers and Robeasts to sneak someone into your side. But you can't live in fear of what can happen, or you'll never move ahead. If we hadn't trusted the other planets of our dimension we wouldn't have been able to defeat King Zarkon."

_They defeated Zarkon!?_

Shiro was numb to the storm of questions and accusations that followed.

 _They defeated Zarkon_.

Another Voltron. Another dimension. Another Zarkon.

 _They defeated_ Zarkon _._

Yeah, it was worth taking this risk. "Princess, I suggest we hear them out," he said.

His words silenced the whole argument".

"Shiro, are you certain?" she asked. He breathed a sigh of relief at her trusting him on this.

 _No._ "We've still got the advantage should they try anything." Five paladins, the Princess and Coran. Even if the other Voltron was filled with an army of robot drones they could handle it.

The seconds to her reply were agonizing silence. "Understood. Other Voltron, disengage and follow our Lions into the hanger. If you try anything suspicious I will not hesitate to open fire."

"Roger that Castle Control," said Commander Keith. "Do you want us to follow in the same-color Lions?"

"Yes."

"Understood. Voltron Force: deactivate interlock and disengage."

"Voltron Paladins: disband."

The two Voltrons separated into their components. And the Legendary Defender led the blocky lions towards the Castle…

Shiro hoped he hadn't made the wrong call.


	2. Through a Mirror Olden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, thanks everyone for those comments, kudos and bookmarks! Really thrilled about that!

"Alright Black Lion," said Shiro, "match my speed and follow me in."

"Roger that," Commander Keith replied. "It'll be good to get a face-to-face. The dimensional jump scrambled some of our sensors."

Shiro hadn't really thought about it, but in retrospect they hadn't given a video feed. That was pretty suspicious.

Well, if anything happened he had an armful of pain waiting for them.

The two black lions flew into the castle-ship's hanger in good formation. A quick look at the others showed the same thing. This was going pretty smoothly.

The two settled down in the more-cramped bay. The hangar doors closed and the bay pressurized. His instruments read green. "Alright, bay's got air. Let's have that face-to-face you were looking for."

"Roger that."

A hatch on the other black lion's head popped open and Commander Keith climbed out first.

He was wearing red. The suit was mostly white, and Shiro couldn't tell if it was some sort of armor or cloth actually, but the helmet, belt, shoulders, boots, trim on the gloves and a swath across the collarbone were red.

Red suit for the black lion pilot was pretty weird to see. But about the bottom of the list of strange things today.

Shiro noticed the holstered sidearm on Commander Keith's belt too. It didn't look like he was packing a bayard like the paladins, but it could just be in another form like Zarkon did.

There didn't seem to be any trouble, so Shiro headed out to meet with the Commander Keith. Boots back on solid… was the castle-ship made of steel? He should ask Allura about that later.

But either way, his boots hit the deck plates and the two of them met between their lions.

"Commander Keith, Voltron Force Black Lion pilot, attached to Planet Arus of the Galaxy Alliance," he said, and offered his hand.

That was certainly a mouthful… Shiro looked at his robot arm. Hopefully he didn't act weird about this. He shook the other pilot's hand. "Takashi Shirogane, Voltron Paladins' lead, attached to the castle-ship of Planet Altea." The two men dropped the handshake. "Call me Shiro."

"Good to meet you Shiro." Keith smiled. "And good to see Voltron's fighting the good fight no matter what dimension he's in."

"Thanks for the help back there," Shiro repeated. "Though I'm wondering about the 'how and why' of everything right now."

Keith nodded. "I'd like to wait until we're all together so we don't repeat ourselves. But rest assured, we've got a good explanation for all this."

Not revealing their plans right off was both smart and suspicious. "Then let's get walking then." Shiro took the lead out of the hangar. He took off his helmet as they walked.

Commander Keith did the same. And Shiro was struck with just how similar he was to Keith. A few more years and some hard living, and a few inches cut from the mullet and he was looking at Keith.

"So, black for the black lion pilot in your dimension is it?"

"Oh, yeah," Shiro blinked himself out of his concentration. "Kinda surprised to see you hop out in red, actually. That must have been confusing when you first started to pilot."

"Our descent tubes always sent us to the correct lion tunnel. Even when we launched in other lions. Heck, the first time I sortied I was piloting Green Lion."

"You guys can actually pilot each other lions?"

Commander Keith nodded. "Not often, but it's come up a few times. We didn't have the black lion's key during our first mission and Pidge had gone off to harass Yurak's advance forces, so I took over piloting Green Lion."

They had some bigger differences more than just who wore what. And now Shiro's mind honed in on the biggest. "So, where am I, in your dimension?"

Commander Keith stopped cold at the question. Shiro turned to face him.

"We don't know of any Takashi Shirogane," Commander Keith said.

It was an indescribably weird feeling to know your alternate-dimension doppelganger wasn't piloting a giant robot lion.

"But you remind me of our friend Sven."

That sounded Swedish. Or was it Norwegian?

He couldn't even remember spiders earlier.

"So, uh, Sven, huh?" Shiro wanted to get his mind off his mind not being all there. He resumed walking and Commander Keith took pace again.

"Yes. He piloted the blue lion while he was with us."

"He died then."

"No," Commander Keith said and an odd relief flooded Shiro's body. "He nearly lost his life saving Lance from Witch Haggar, but we were able to get him to Planet Ebb for treatment."

Shiro dropped the breath he'd unknowingly held. Talking about this guy felt pretty similar. "But the injuries must have been pretty severe if he's not with you now."

"Planet Ebb was taken over by King Zarkon not long after."

"Sven can't catch a break can he?"

"Well, he had a break-out. He and Princess Romelle escaped from Planet Doom."

Shiro decided that the princess was more appealing than the planet. "So that's the name of your princess?"

"Oh, no, that's Princess Allura. She and Romelle are cousins."

Their Allura was flying? Good for her.

Wait.

"If you're piloting black while wearing red. Who's piloting the red lion?"

"That would be Lance. He's wearing blue."

"Then who's in the blue lion?"

"Princess Allura wearing pink."

_Oh boy._

* * *

Lance guided Blue in all nice and easy. The other pilot was wowed into silence at his slick moves, he was sure. The blue lions settled down in the hangar and Lance hurried out of the cockpit. This other Lance had to be pretty eager to meet someone as great as himself too.

He hit the deck fast and first and with a smug smile. The other one wasn't as fast.

The other one also wasn't a Lance at all.

The other pilot wasn't even a he!

She (and he was plenty sure she was a she this time) came out with her pink-tinged flightsuit. She removed her helmet, revealing her golden blonde hair tied up in a bun. A silver tiara; blue eyes. She was pitch-perfect the image of a Princess.

She was instantly among the top five hottest people in the castle-ship.

"I'm Princess Allura of Planet Arus, blue lion pilot of the Voltron Force." Wow, she looked nothing like the Allura he knew at all.

"Lance McClain, ace pilot for the blue lion of the Voltron Paladins at your service." _Wonder if I look like her Lance at all?_

"You resemble our Lance, if he was a few years younger."

 _Great minds do think alike._ "Then he must clearly be a great guy."

"That's one way of putting it."

 _Ouch._ "So, much thanks on the save but why'd you come?" _For a dashing young rogue such as myself?_ "I know a lovely place to talk about it. You, me, some dinner and the stars, what do you say?" _Please don't hurt me._

She giggled. She actually giggled! No nearly-torn-off ear or arm twist from this Princess! "That's very flattering, but we've come on a very important mission for a dear friend of ours. We can't indulge in personal acts until we've exhausted our search."

It was a step up from bodily harm at least. "Well, alright, if you ever change your mind I will gladly tell you where to reach me."

"We should really get going," she said, ignoring the offer. "Let's meet up with Lance and the rest of the team.

Lance glanced down at himself, still in blue. "Where is your Lance, actually? Can't say I expected to see you climb down."

"Oh, our Lance pilots the red lion."

"Does he still where blue?"

"Yes."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that get, like, confusing?"

"Not really, no."

Lance shrugged. If it worked for them, who was he to argue?

But that meant Keith would be running into the other Lance sooooo… Give'em hell for all the Lances in all the dimensions!

* * *

Keith brought in the red lions to his hangar with a grunt of disapproval. This was a risk they didn't need to be taking.

"Alright, get out," Keith ordered the other pilot. The other Red was settled down, but Keith kept his active. If the other pilot tried anything a mouthful of heat blaster was waiting.

"That's some hospitality you people have," the other pilot said. The hatch on top of the other Red's head popped open and the pilot with a blue helmet climbed out. "You want me to put my hands up? Maybe slap some handcuffs on? Can I even talk"

Keith didn't raise to his provocations. He checked over the other Red for anything suspicious, but it looked okay. Hunk and Pidge would be better at it though.

The other pilot jumped down from the red lion. "If you've got a problem with me say it to my face. Don't hide behind Red Lion."

What kind of idiot would challenge him a face-to-face fight?

Oh, right, they had a Lance too. The blue should have been a tip-off, but the visor really made it hard to see the upper half of this other Lance's face. (His lips looked oddly like a duck's from this angle though).

Well, this Lance was no Zarkon. It'd be a piece of cake to take him down too.

Keith left Red and met the other Lance down on the floor. The other pilot had discarded his helmet during Keith's descent, so he followed suit.

"What is it with Keiths and mullets?"

"What is it with Lances and being annoying?"

Keith scrutinized this other Lance a bit more. Brown hair, beady eyes. A few years, and a shovel to the face, and normal Lance would be this other Lance's twin.

Which meant this Lance's face looked pretty punchable. (Among other things.)

"Look, I get it," other Lance moved his arms into a half shrug, "you don't trust me—us. Zarkon does dirty tricks like that all the time. But if we were your enemies we'd have taken out your Voltron and ship already."

Just as cocky as normal Lance too. "You weren't that good out there."

"My Red's not the one bearing battle damage kid."

"We fought longer than you."

"And we traversed an unstable dimensional gate."

"Couldn't have been that unstable if you're here."

The other Lance cocked his head back. "A dimensional jump like that would chew you up and spit you out."

"You certainly look like something spit out."

Other Lance laughed.

Keith stared in confusion. Normal Lance would have failed to come up with any good comeback to that.

"Alright," other Lance said, "your mouth moves fast, what about the rest of you?"

"You as in 'me' or you as in the rest of the paladins?" It was ambiguous enough Keith wanted some clarification.

"You, 'other' Keith."

 _You're the others._ "After all that talk about not giving you a warm welcome you want to get in a fight? That makes for a pretty lousy guest."

"Then we're a pair of louts."

Keith smirked. Looks like he'd get to punch that face real soon. "Alright, don't say I didn't warn you." Keith grabbed his bayard and materialized his sword. Energy shield to his left and blade in his right and one big grin to back them up. "Your move, guest."

"Whoa, hold on here." The other Lance's cocky facade crumbled and was already taking steps backward from Keith. Just goes to show he was all talk, no bite, like normal Lance. "All I got is this dinky ray gun." He patted the holster on his right hip. Keith had overlooked it earlier. "Does a sense of fair play not exist in this dimension either?"

"You're the one who started this."

"I meant for you. Don't worry, I'll leave it on stun." He quickly regained his composure. "Sure you don't want your Lion to take me on? It'd be a more even fight."

"You're no Zarkon."

"With a handsome face like this?" Lance drew his gun quick as lightning and fired. But Keith edged his shield into the blast. It dissipated harmlessly. "That's some shield you've got there." He continued to fire and Keith kept his defense solid and advanced.

It wasn't long before he had other Lance backed up against the other Red's claws and coming steadily into sword range. A good hit with the blade flat to the stomach would put an end to this.

Shield still up, Keith swung.

Other Lance leapt. High. Really high. Landed on top of the other red lion high and left Keith to look up confused. Was he part Altean or something?

Being up above gave other Lance a better angle but Keith still kept his shield blocking every shot.

"This is going nowhere," said other Lance. "Hurry up and jump on."

"I can't do that!" Keith shouted.

"Wait, really?" Other Lance stopped firing. "Sheesh, this dimension's real weird."

"Jumping a hundred feet is the weirder thing no matter what dimension you're from." Keith wasn't much for advanced math, but the force needed to catapult him that far up was impressive. Kick a rib cage in half impressive. And it didn't seem like other Lance was limping for it. The deck plates hadn't dented either.

Other Lance shrugged and holstered his sidearm. "Well, that just soured my mood. Let's call this one your win. I shouldn't be getting serious fighting with a kid anyway."

 _Condescending—!_ "I don't need charity from old men."

"That's me being nice kid, now it's your turn. I'm Lance, you're Keith. Introductions done, let's go meet the rest of your team."

Did he plan this? Or was it just coincidence? "Is anyone else this hotheaded on your team?" What kind of trouble was everyone else getting into?

"Hunk. Only guy I know who'd charge dozens of armed people barehanded."

_Sounds pretty impressive._

"You probably got a Hunk too, right?"

"Uh, yeah, not much in the 'charge headlong into the enemy type' but he's pretty passionate in his own way." _About food. And Machines. And… Sley? Srey? Shay! That was it, Shay._

* * *

Hunk thought up a lot of things about what the other pilots could be. Maybe they were some sort of lion-people? Or a hundred-armed short people? Maybe some sort of, like, crystal-cat-bird people?

It was almost kind of boring he was just another guy like him.

Until he realized it literally was a guy like him. "Wow," Hunk said looking face-to-face with the other yellow lion pilot. "It's like, looking through a mirror that shows you your future."

"And you look just like I did back in high school. If I knew I'd meet ya, I'd have brought my old yearbook to show you," said old Hunk.

Old Hunk was older, a bit more weathered, a bit bigger in gut and height. But same headband, same skin tone, same eyes. Well, voice was different. Though Hunk couldn't remember if that was a New Jersey, Brooklyn or New York accent. Best not to bring that up.

"So, like, this is totally cool!" Hunk gleefully said. "I'll still be me when I grow up!" Growth spurt and no forced diet! And even being a better pilot, that too.

"I don't think we're from the future but I like your enthusiasm." Old Hunk smiled at him.

"How'd you guys get here?" Hunk changed the subject. "You must be packing some pretty heavy engines to open up a dimensional gateway." Definitely bigger than the castle-ship's.

Old Hunk scratched the back of his head. "I'm uhhh, not too sure on that. I'm not really an advanced physics star. Or advanced anything, other than knocking heads together and downing some burgers."

"Awwww. Burgers." Hunk missed burgers. He missed a lot of foods, but burgers were up there. Oh, and miniature combustion engines, those were great. Making his old bicycle gas-powered was the best idea he ever had. And then combining the ideas to make a portable grill. When it didn't explode those were the best grilled burgers he ever had.

"Well, no burgers here," Hunk sadly said, "I mean, the Altean grub's not bad but it doesn't have that charm Earth food has, you know?"

Old Hunk grinned. "Good thing for the both of us I stowed away some space burgers on yellow lion. We can swap Voltron stories before we catch up with everyone else."

Hunk was almost on the verge of tears. Burgers! For the first time since they left Earth—burgers! "You're like the brother I always wanted."

"Finally someone else who likes food!" Old Hunk's smile went even wider. "And I don't have to worry about Pidge swiping my portions."

Oh, hey, they had a Pidge too? The two of them would probably have a third Voltron made by the time everyone got together.

* * *

Pidge ran an analysis of the extra-dimensional green lion as the two of them settled back into the hangar. There wasn't any detectable cloaking device like she'd installed on Green and there was a lack of visible weapons at all. In light of the Blazing Sword forming out of nowhere, and the dimensional gate, it was a logical presumption that the second green lion could form new weapons on the attached hardpoints.

So Pidge let the other pilot get out first just in case.

He was short, had glasses, his uniform was dark green (compared to her light green) and it didn't look like his uniform could retain atmosphere (there was no visor on the helmet or any sort of breathing apparatus). What happened if they had a cockpit breach in space?

But considering they were still around, they'd have to be pretty good at preventing that sort of thing in the first place.

"Hey, don't leave me all alone down here," the other pilot said in his high-pitched screech. She just assumed it was some sort of audio error listening to him earlier, there was no visuals, after all, and dimensional travel had to be pretty complex and dangerous. But his voice was just unnaturally high, like it hadn't broken yet. Like nails on one of those ancient chalkboards.

"I'll be down in a second," said Pidge, and followed through. She was right, she was taller than him. "I'm Pidge."

"Whoa your name is Pidge too!?" He flailed in over exaggerated shock. "I guess with two Voltrons there'd be two Pidges. And Keiths, and Lances and Princesses and Hunks."

He hadn't figured that out already? Clearly not the brains of the operation. "So, what exactly are you guys here for?"

"We're helping out a friend of ours," he replied.

"What, is he from this dimension too?"

"No, this might not even be the dimension we're looking for."

"So you came upon us by sheer random chance?"

"Pretty much."

Not like there weren't a lot of scientific discoveries where random events didn't give way to the basis for a hypothesis. But two Voltrons colliding into each other across two vast universes as random chance? Keith finding Shiro and Lance finding the blue lion seemed like random chance at a glance too, but there were deep underlying reasons for it. There was definitely something more here, and had to be on their end.

First, she needed to establish a baseline of comparison. "So," she said, "you didn't mention Shiro, earlier."

"Who's Shiro?"

"He's the pilot of our black lion. You have Commander Keith there."

"So where's your Keith?" he asked.

"Red lion."

"Huh…" He paused to parse the information. "Guess you guys like to color coordinate here. So where's your Lance at?"

"Blue lion."

"Hunk's in yellow, and we're here. So I guess your Lance is meeting our Princess."

 _Well that's just trouble waiting to happen._ "Then we should stop him before he starts hitting on her."

"That fiend!" Other Pidge shook his fist. "We're the only ones that get to flirt with the Princess."

It was like a Voltron filled with Lances. A terrifyingly intriguing prospect.

The other Pidge took off in a run down the halls. "Hey, wait, you don't know where to go!" she shouted and ran after him. Short legs meant short stride but other Pidge was fast anyway.

"I'm a scout, I always know where I'm going!"

That explained away his job, at least.

As she chased after him, she had to wonder: _Where's their Shiro? Why is that Pidge a guy? Is he some sort of Matt? Are they all that different? Allura's piloting though, I'm certain ours would if she could._


	3. Clash of Us

“So,” Shiro restarted the conversation when Commander Keith and he were getting close to meeting back up with the others, “what’s it like piloting your Voltron?” He looked over at the other pilot—who was now suddenly in different clothes. A red… track suit? The pattern on its chest resembled the one Keith’s coat had. “New question: When did you change your clothes?”

“When you weren’t looking, obviously,” other Keith answered with an added grin.

“Not what I meant.” _Not important either, I guess, unless it’s some sort of teleportation? They opened a wormhole after all._

The door to the lounge slid open at their presence and the two leaders stepped inside. First to arrive from either of the Voltrons. Third and fourth overall, as Allura and Coran were already waiting for them.

“Oh wow!” Coran responded. “Did Keith get hit with some sort of age-increasing-ray when I wasn’t looking?”

Maybe the same place the clothes came from.

“It’s, an odd story, let’s wait for the others, first,” Shiro decided.

So, they settled in on the couch, and waited.

Lance came in, tagging along with the other Princess Allura (who was like looking into some sort of opposite mirror). He was being his usual Lance self which got him the usual Allura response of a glare.

Keith came in next, and some sort of older Lance in tow. Keith looked plenty grumpy and other Lance had a cocky smirk on his face.

Then came Hunk, and what was basically what Shiro imagined Hunk’s father to look like.

Then it was other Pidge. Who immediately lashed out at Lance for flirting with other Allura.

Then it was their Pidge, coming in with a sigh and a shrug and a warranted look of annoyance.

Their Princess Allura seemed cross about the whole situation. It worried him. She was never this distant in the past. Maybe she was more exhausted than she let on?

(Commander Keith was also suddenly back in his pilot suit and Shiro was too bewildered to even articulate this time.)

Everyone settled back down on the couch, except for Allura and Coran who kept standing. The initial introductions were exchanged (Keiths, Lances, Hunks, Pidges, Voltron Paladins and Voltron Force) and after those were settled came in the outliers.

“Well, my name’s Corran,” he said. “Steward of the castle-ship, XO, and doer of all sorts of jobs around the ship.”

“You’re Coran?” other Hunk expressed. “Guess my new buddy here gave me the wrong impression about all of you.”

“What sort of impression did you get?”

“Well,” other Hunk tilted his head up. “I’d say our Coran’s a whole lot more dignified than you.”

That’s sure a bad way to start things off.

“I’m plenty dignified.” Coran stood straighter to respond. “Why, I dare say I’m the most dignified Coran in any galaxy.”

“Well, we’re talking universes on our end and it isn’t a contest,” the other Lance remarked.

“Knock it off, Lance,” other Keith ordered.

“Sure thing, Chief.”

“Hey!” Lance stood up in outrage. “Are you really gonna let a Keith order you around?”

Keith shook his head. “Is that really something to get mad about?”

“Sit down Lance,” Shiro ordered him.

“But—”

“Let’s save the opinions for later.”

“Fine,” he grumbled and slumped back into his seat, muttering. Even crossed his arms. Joining Keith as a pair.

Smart mouths got Lances in trouble regardless of the universe.

“That goes for the rest of you, too,” Commander Keith said. “We’re guests in their ship, so be on your best behavior.”

“And they are guests, so they deserve to be treated as such,” Shiro followed up. That seemed to get everyone settled. “Princess?”

“I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea.”

“And I am Princess Allura of Planet Arus.”

That could explain some differences, but… “Our Castle-ship was buried on a Planet Arus,” Shiro said.

“And you guys, uh,” Pidge looked them over, “well, most of you are taller than them.”

“Hey!” other Pidge snapped. “Oh, ship, right! That’s the name of that Arus Coast Guard ship attacked by the frog robeasts.”

Their struggles certainly seem different. “So,” Shiro interjected, “let’s get down to business, what exactly are you here for?”

“It’s a long story,” Commander Keith answered. “Do you want to start from the beginnings, Zarkon’s defeat, or our reason here?”

Zarkon’s defeat. “Your mission,” said Shiro. “You got us out of a jam, so let’s see if we can pay you back. Anyone disagree?”

No one did.

“Thanks,” Commander Keith nodded. “Near the end of the war with King Zarkon, Princess had been incapacitated by mechanical failure and rescued by a young man named Garrett.”

Coran stiffened at the name.

“He was invited to the Castle of Lions as a guest, but had sinister intentions.”

“Which I spotted immediately, by the way,” other Lance added.

“It wasn’t the first time King Zarkon or Witch Haggar tried to infiltrate the Voltron Force. But, this time was by far the most successful.” The Commander looked ready to sigh at simply remembering. “Their evil plan found its hooks right where they wanted. In our Coran’s memories.”

That explains the wayCoran reacted. Wait… does that mean?

“Garrett, was the name of Coran’s son. He, or rather, the clone of him, resembled his father, and held a cross passed down in Coran’s family along with a scar he’d gotten as a baby. Coran sent his family away when King Zarkon attacked the Castle of Lions.”

“Coran…” the Princess put her hand on his shoulder.

The altean man himself kept it together bravely. “Please, go on.” It was uncomfortable to see Coran so serious. But the subject deserved that.

“They did not get far before King Zarkon’s forces found them again. Under attack by Zarkon’s fleet… they were saved by a mountain man named Oolonam. He used his ki to safeguard Coran’s wife Lidia and their son Garrett within the Dimension of Elsu.”

That certainly took a sharp turn into family friendly territory.

“With King Zarkon defeated, we’ve spent our days trying to locate Coran’s family by opening dimensional barriers to locate Elsu. Oolonam’s been unable to do so, so it’s fallen upon Voltron to do it.”

That was certainly a lot to take in.

“My family—his family might be alive?” A fearful hope crept into Coran’s voice. “I… I need a moment, please,” he said before quickly departing.

Lance was already up to chase after him. “Hey, wait!”

“Hold on,” Allura stopped him. “I’ll confer with Coran, the rest of you continue speaking with our guests.”

“Hey, Coran was there for me at my low so I should be there helping right back.”

“Do you really think I don’t know better than anyone what Coran’s going through right now?”

Her words stopped Lance’s protests cold. “Fine.”

She followed after Coran without another word. Lance sat back at with his arms crossed.

Shiro added. “The Princess knows what’s best.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t wanna help.”

“So,” Pidge spoke up, “do you guys have a Shiro?”

Right to the point.

“We don’t,” Commander Keith replied. “Our friend Sven bears similarities to your leader Shiro, though.”

“Sven? That’s nordic.”

“So,” said Hunk, “where’s this Sven of yours?”

Commander Keith answered, “He’s with Princess Romelle on Planet Pollux.”

“Lucky man,” said Lance.

Shiro asked, “How exactly did that happen?” If he’s closest to me, it could be helpful to learn anything relevant. “And I assume your Princess took up piloting duties when he left?”

“You got it,” Commander Keith nodded. “It wasn’t long after the Voltron Force was reformed with the five of us. Witch Haggar attempted another one of her evil spells, and Sven bravely stepped up to stop her.”

“Saved my hide in the process,” other Lance said.

“But between the old witch and her new robeast, they injured Sven, badly.”

Shiro clenched his teeth as the news. “I got into a fight with our Haggar pretty recently. Hunk and the Princess managed to bail me outta that one.” No man-sized Robeast on that fight. Though it’d be more impressive if he took on a Voltron-sized one. Maybe, it was the Gladiator?

“Good man!” other Hunk congratulated him. Them?

Commander Keith continued with the story. “We got Sven over to Planet Ebb for medical treatment, but it was eventually overran by King Zarkon’s forces. He was taken back to Planet Doom as a slave again.”

Planet Doom? Again?

“Planet Doom sounds like the name of a SyFy original movie.” Pidge seemed ready to burst out laughing at the name. “Or the villain in some sort of 1980s’ cartoon show.”

“It was a fitting name,” Commander Keith continued without responding to Pidge. Was that condescending or mature? “Until Voltron freed the slaves, the only ones who’d ever escaped from the planet were the five of us and Princess Romelle.”

“Go Princess,” Pidge cheered.

“You guys were slaves too?” asked Shiro.

Commander Keith nodded. He pulled up the left sleeve of his pilot suit. Lance, Hunk and Pidge followed suit. It was hard to see, but there was a tattoo of a skull near their elbows. “Any slave sent to Planet Doom is branded with one of these.”

Just like me, Shiro grimly realized.

“Sven had it worse, stuck on the planet for months, living in caves. But with Romelle’s help, he and she managed to escape to space, meet up with Voltron, and make it back to her home planet of Pollux.”

“How did you guys take down, uh, Planet Doom and King Zarkon?” It sounded odd to say King. “Emperor Zarkon could go lion-to-man with the Red Lion.”

“Whoa!” And surprise came from the other Voltron Force.

Other Hunk responded first, “King Zarkon’s a tough customer but nowhere near that tough.”

“Voltron might be a match for him, but the Black Lion, is...” this was still difficult to acknowledge, “Emperor Zarkon was the former paladin of the Black Lion.”

This came with another round of surprise. “Sorry, can’t help you on that one,” other Lance said. “You tried asking King Alfor’s ghost?”

Ki, witches and ghosts. Was this Dragonball? “We… don’t have contact with King Alfor anymore.”

“Do you have an emergency program in your Lions?” asked other Allura.

The Lions? Maybe. “I’ll bring it up with the Princess later.”

“No need, Shiro,” said Allura, returning inwards with Coran. “I overheard.”

* * *

Even if Coran had only a couple ticks head start it was enough that he was well out of sight. Still, with the subject matter at hand, she was confident she knew where her advisor would be.

Right in the bridge. Gazing at the star map projected above them. Looking right at where Altea was—should be.

Fear and uncertainty always gripped her heart when she thought about what Zarkon might have done to the planet. Her people. Without her, or her father, to blunt his ambition, he’d certainly take it out on them.

Were they the last Alteans?

“Oh, Princess?” Coran said with none of his usual bombast. “You didn’t need to come.”

“Of course I needed too,” she replied. “You’re my friend Coran. If anything I should have done this sooner.”

“You’ve had your fair share of problems. Didn’t need to hold mine as well.”

She shook her head. “We’re in this together. All of us. Everyone from you to Shiro or Pidge—even Lance, shouldn’t hesitate to confide in me.” Lance less though. Though I need to speak with Shiro too, he’s seemed stressed...

“That’s uh…” Coran paused to look back at home. “I miss Altea.”

“I do, too.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “So, that’s why we need to learn what we can from that Voltron Force.” Even if she didn’t fully trust them, they needed every advantage they could wring.

A universe conquered by Galra. Her father gone. Altea’s fate left in the air. Difficulties with the paladins. Losing her father’s AI construct. Meeting Zarkon once more and the separation. Then attack after attack. Her patience was frayed.

Those weren’t excuses. Even if that Voltron Force came off as rather odd, she was a diplomat. Their cultures were different and she had to respect that. She knew that. Just like getting used to the Paladins. She’d done it once, a second time wouldn’t be so hard.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up that my family made it out alive… but Altea had sleep pods. Maybe, maybe it’s just right this time to hope.”

“A thousand years and we wake up to find new Paladins and the Lions nearby. Yes, it’s right to hope, Coran.”

He exploded into a great big smile. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s see what super moves that Voltron Force has in store for us!”

It was unlikely their different Voltrons had fully compatible systems. “I’m sure it’ll be enlightening.”

The Alteans headed back to the longue.

Just in time to hear the conversation, regarding King Alfor—father. His… ghost. And the possibility his AI remained within the Lions! Of course! She should have realized that sooner!

She stepped back in with Coran and announced her presence. “We’ve been too occupied with other conditions to check for any fragments of my father’s AI within the Lions.” Purging the castle into the sneaking mission, her kidnapping and the fight against Zarkon. Reuniting, and endless castle-ship maintenance. “This is the first time we’ve not been under constant attack.” The Lions hadn’t had any downtime save when the Paladins were sleeping. “I’d like to investigate, now that we have the time.”

“I’ll help,” Pidge volunteered.

“Thank you, Pidge.”

Pidge stood up to join her.

“Would you mind if I accompanied you?” asked that… other, Allura. She was so different, was it because she was Arusian rather than Altean?

“I don’t mind,” Allura replied. Maybe this other Allura had different areas of expertise to help with.

“Thank you. You can use my Blue Lion to compare with yours,” she volunteered.

That prompted Lance up. “If you’re gonna be rooting around in Blue I should be there too.”

That was true. But Lance and three women? Watching him flirt with that hauler girl was embarrassing enough. “Come along then, Lance,” she said against her better judgement. “Anyone else? Hunk?” His mechanical skills could prove useful.

“I’ll check up on you guys later,” he said. “Hunk over there’s brought some space burgers I’m diggin’ to try out.”

“Leave it to you to bring food, Hunk,” said other Pidge and laughed.

“Oh yeah!” other Hunk stood up. “Well, you’re not getting any with an attitude like that!”

“What? No!”

“And don’t go thinkin’ I’m gonna let you sneak off with any again. I’m on to your tricks Pidge. No Space Mice to bribe this time around.”

Allura didn’t feel the need to mention the Altean mice scurrying around the castle-ship.

“Well, if there’s nothing else?” Lance said and walked up over to the three of them. “Ladies, if we may?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Allura kept her skin from crawling.


	4. Voltron Scores Big!

“...And that’s how I saved the day yet again,” Lance finished his latest exaggerated boast.

 

“Oh my,” Arus Allura gasped.  “You’ve been through quite some adventures, haven’t you?  You’re very brave to continue on despite such injuries.”

 

“Please don’t encourage him,” Allura dryly commented.

 

“He didn’t even do much,” Pidge added as well.

 

“Hey, I did more work than anyone who wasn’t you,” Lance retorted.

 

“I did do most of the work.”

 

Lance puts his hands out like he was about to chop something.  “But we’re a team, Pidge, and all of us contributed.  Except Keith.”

 

“He cradled you in his arms,” Allura reminded him.

 

“So did my mom, but that doesn’t mean she helped take back a flying space castle.”

 

The frustration coming off Allura could be felt in waves.  “We’re here,” she announced the obvious to keep herself from being bothered by Lance. 

 

The doors slid open to the hanger showing the pair of blue lions.  This close, it was easier to spot the differences, however minute they were (Lance’s had a red pseudo-mane while Allura’s had a red spot on the back; Lance’s had a white tail against Allura’s yellow).  But the two blues were a lot more similar in appearance than the two greens.  It was a good starting point to determine if there were any under-the-hood similarities.

 

“Hey,” said Pidge as they headed inside, “do I have to get permission from your lion to begin running diagnostics?”

 

Arus Allura looked at her in confusion.  “I’m not sure what you mean?  I have the key right here.”  She pulled off the emblem on her left chest.

 

Right, this should have been the first question.  “Allura, is your lion sentient?”

 

“Not that I’m aware of, no.” she suddenly snapped.  “I’m not sure if my father’s ghost or emergency program would stop you, since you have good intentions.”

 

Ghosts and AIs.  As if the Lions weren’t weird enough on their own.  “Anything more concrete I won’t have my interface fried tampering in your lion?

 

“Well, I only learned about the AI when we were fighting King Zarkon’s Robeast, so he wasn’t really there.  Though, he didn’t attempt anything when others piloted blue lion so it should be fine.”

 

_ Looks like that’s all I’m getting.  Though that Zarkon Robeast is worrisome.  If he could go toe-to-toe with a lion on foot he could easily be a match for Voltron in a Robeast. _

 

_ Then why did he want Voltron? _

 

Pidge filed away that for later.  She had computers right now!  “Alright, I’m gonna need access to both of your cockpits.”  She managed to get a cobbled together laptop to sync with the Altean systems so another universe wasn’t out of the question.

 

“Hey,” said Lance, ”why didn’t you ask me for permission to get in blue’s head?”

 

_ Because your cockpit is open to any woman? _  “Are you really gonna say no?  Besides, I’ve been inside before.” 

 

“Oh, yeah.”

 

“You were just telling that story,” Allura pointed out.

 

“Glad you were paying attention.”  He winked at Allura.

 

She looked away.  From everyone.

 

“Right, let’s head up.”  Pidge would hear the slap just fine through feet of… steel, or whatever metal or alloy the lions were made of.

 

Pidge wished she had a noise filter on her helmet as she and Arus Allura headed into the head of the second blue.  The inside  _ was _ a fair bit more different than the outside this time.  The two of them stood up behind the pilot’s seat as Pidge gauged the situation.

 

The Paladins’ Lions had a massive monitor dominating their central view.  It went from ceiling to floor and extended well beyond the peripherals.  (Except for the screen covered up by their control decks.)  Frankly it was way larger than the lion’s eyes indicated, and maybe Altean tech had something to do with it, but Pidge didn’t care much since it worked.  

 

The Other Blue Lion which she stepped into had a large canopy taking center instead.  Pidge presumed it’d have some sort of overlay once the lion was active, but for now it just showed the hanger and Lance’s waving.  From the size, she determined the output quality of the monitor had a lower resolution than her Green’s.  (She didn’t even know how many pixels her monitor outputted at.)

 

That was the story as a whole here.  Everything just  _ looked _ worse.  The flight controls for Other Blue were smaller and had individual monitors taking up valuable space instead of holographic pop-ups.  The cockpit was less roomy (barely) and everything was sort of blocky instead of the smooth curves of the Paladins’ Lions.  On the other hand ,the seat for the Other Blue was wider and seemed a lot less likely to snap off from smashing into something as the lions were designed to do.

 

Kind of a grim joke that two universes thought putting cockpits in areas that constantly punched or kicked giant robots was a good idea.  But that was the multiverse for you.

 

“Alright,” said Pidge once she got her bearings, “could you turn her on for me?”

 

“Ok.”  Arus Allura stepped forward and pulled the emblem off her chest.  She slotted it into a perfectly fitted socket above the flight controls.  The emblem glowed brightly and the left half slide over the middle bars and formed into a perfect circle on the right, leaving the teeth of a king on the left.  The teeth inserted left and dragged the rest behind.  A five portioned star and the monitor lit up as a thrum of power ran through the machine.

 

“Thank you,” said Pidge.  She sat down in the seat as Arus Allura stepped aside and…  “Where are the ports on this thing?”  There was a whole bunch of switches on the console, but nothing she could plug into.

 

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

 

Right, wasn’t logical to assume everyone was familiar with all the hows and whys of their machine.  “If I want to check your lion’s systems I need some way to access it with tech I’m familiar with.  I can totally get the machines talking together, but I don’t want to go prying off side panels if I can help it.”

 

“I’m not one of the engineers or repair crew, but I think what you want is hidden in one of those panels.  Father didn’t want anyone getting easy access to the lions’ systems.”

 

If these lions could be hijacked it was smart to make it as difficult as possible.  “Alright, I’m gonna start pulling off what I can, then.”

 

“Let me help you.”

 

Pidge had her eye on a pretty visible sheet sitting beneath some sort of side console.  It didn’t take long for the two of them to snap it off.

 

“Bingo,” said Pidge as she checked inside.  Some sort of USB port, instead of the light-and-laser systems Altea and Galra used.  It looked pretty primitive, but Earth never managed giant robot cats, so this had to be more advanced than it seemed.  And a good thing she’d rigged up a makeshift cable from various odds-and-ends.

 

She booted up and connected the two systems.  Nothing was on fire, which was always a good start.  She ran the diagnostic program she wrote to try and grab information out of the Paladins’ Lions.  It wasn’t that effective on them, there was simply too much data for a makeshift system to handle.  Not even getting into the language barriers and the crystals.  Those were just beyond her much as she tried to learn from Allura and Coran.  She felt like a neanderthal using fire without understanding the chemical reaction, or Lance with anything.

 

So hopefully the older look to these lions meant they were easier to understand.

 

She underestimated how easy.

 

Her makeshift laptop stripped all the information out in a few seconds.  It was embarrassing how little there was, she had nail-drives with a larger capacity than what she pulled out.  These lions were either extraordinarily efficient, or running harder on the magic-side of their tech.

 

As she shifted through the data, she grew inclined towards the latter.  She thanked whoever invented “aliens speaking English” since the entire operating system ran off it.  Didn’t take her long to consume everything she wanted.  Movement systems, weapon systems and energy management.  All simple, but effective, but there were conspicuous holes in vital systems, like life support and the power source.  It might be something specific to the blue lions, but she doubted it.

 

More importantly there was no sign of any AI she could find.  Since Arus Allura claimed it existed, it had to be attuned to the crystal.  If there was one.  “Do your lions run off crystal-tech too?”

 

“Yes, they do.”  

 

_ Dang. _  “Then your father’s AI is stored in it, I can’t find any program in the stuff I do understand.”

 

“That’s quite unfortunate, then.”

 

“Yeah, but I have what I need, let’s go check out Lance’s blue.”   _ If he could be dragged off Allura. _  They replaced the panel and turned off the lion before leaving.

 

Allura had Lance sorted back out when Pidge and Arus Allura got back to the hangar.  He lethargically led her back into his blue while the Alluras stood outside.

 

Inside was as roomy and advanced as ever.  “Hey Blue,” said Lance, “Pidge here needs to root around for a real good reason so be a real good girl, okay?”  He spent a moment paused before, “Who’s a good lion?  You are!”  He looked back at her, “Have at it, but be gentle, okay?”

 

“Uh, sure…”  Pidge doubted she could do damage if she tried.  She lined up her gauntlet to Lance’s lion and used it to filter out the information as she transferred over what she need to her laptop.  Even though she knew what she was looking for on this end, the larger size of the data meant it took longer.

 

“Hey, Pidge,” Lance piped up, “think I’ve got a shot with that Princess Allura?”

 

_ Why me? _  “Why are you asking me?  You’ll try anyway.”

 

“It never hurts to get another opinion.”

 

“You’ve been more obnoxious than usual about this,” she said.   _ What was the old saying?  Familiar habits in danger?  No, that’s not it.   _

 

“I have never been obnoxious,” he stated and crossed his arms defensively.  

 

Pidge rolled her eyes and went back to sifting the numbers.  There were some differences she expected between Green and Blue but sometimes even the similar programs had minor differences.  Were each of the lions coded uniquely?  She’d need a check-up on the others, but the whole sentient thing might point to yes…

 

But there was nothing she could claim were fragments of King Alfor’s AI program.  It might be stored on the crystal, like a good chunk of data, but it was just beyond her capabilities.

 

For now.

 

Everything in the lion shut off.  “What?”

 

“Hey, Blue, what gives?”  He waited for the answer to wash over him.  “Oh, okay, let’s go Pidge.”

 

“Right…”  Lance never talked about it but from how he acted with his lion he was probably big into pets.

 

The Paladins departed back to the chatting Alluras.

 

“Give me a moment to compare the data,” Pidge said and got to work setting up her laptop and gauntlet.  She projected the comparisons she pulled from the two blues into the air.  “Alright, I’ve done a quick comparison between the systems of the two lions.”   _ Obviously _ .  “The first thing to note is that the Paladin Lions are, simply put, a lot more advanced.  Allura’s lion just doesn’t have the sheer volume of control programs and systems ours do.”

 

“I don’t think my lion is particularly weaker,” said Arus Allura.

 

“Right, so either your lion’s crystal handles a lot more of the balancing than I’m accustomed to, or I wasn’t able to access all of the systems.”  Pidge singled out sections of code for both Lions.  “Which is possible, I didn’t even find life support in your lion, and it doesn’t look like your pilot suits can sustain atmosphere.”

 

“So, what did you find?” Allura asked.

 

Pidge tapped at two areas.  “These sections right here are the closest in design.  They’re lines of code for the power distribution system, getting energy from the crystals to the lions’ limbs.   Allura’s Lion’s system is a bit more rudimentary, but they’re essentially 90% the same.”

 

“And that means, what?” the confused Lance questioned.

 

“Basically speaking, everything in the mechanics for these lions are close.”  Pidge took a deep breath.  “Too close for coincidence, but I think being a group of five colored giant lion robots that form something called Voltron piloted by an 80% similar crew made that apparent.”

 

“...and?”

 

“And…” Pidge frowned at him, “that means there’s probably a 99% chance there is some fragment of King Alfor’s AI residing in our lions, but I wasn’t able to access it, or the AI in the other blue.  From the circumstances, I’d theorize that Allura would need to become a pilot to activate the AI.”

 

Lance looked up at his lion.  “I’d love to help you out Princess, but Blue and I have a special bond.”

 

“You do, and I can’t sever that.”

 

“Look you deserve it, I know—what wait?” Lance stood flabbergasted.

 

Allura looked at Lance, an expression of seriousness taking hold.  “Severing the bond between Paladin and Lion is dangerous to both, and any prospective new Paladin.  Were there any safe manner, such prospects would be entertained, but we shall simply have to let the matter rest, until then.”

 

“Oh, um, sorry.”

 

“If we could cut the link between Lion and Paladin easily we’d have done it to Zarkon,” Allura pointed out.  

 

“Why would Black ever want anything to do with a creep like Zarkon in the first place?”  Lance asked.

 

Allura shook her head.  “The Lions are drawn to their natural pair, sometimes even against their own will.”

 

“Like you, and girls,” Pidge grinned.

 

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” Lance nodded.  “Pretty grim though.”

 

_ Yeah. _  “Given enough time,” Pidge spoke up, “I might be able to figure something out.  Maybe spoof some sort of signal to trigger any hidden AI program, but…”  It was just a long shot.  They needed a real Altean engineer here.

 

Or maybe something 99% close enough…?  “Hey, um, Voltron Force Allura, did your father help construct your Voltron?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

_ Then this just might work. _  “You think you can get his AI program to show up?  I might have a solution.”

 

“I don’t think I can call him at will.  We were in dire straights the last time, that might be what we need.”

 

“Perfect.”  Or as perfect as lives constantly in jeopardy could be.

 

* * *

 

“Alright!” Other Hunk brought out a huge brown paper bag from somewhere.  “Time for some space burgers with our new friends!”  He threw it on the lounge table and it spilled over from sheer size.  The wonderful bounty of wax-wrapped burgers that covered the table was just waiting to be digested.

 

Hunk grabbed the closest one and peeled off the white wrapper.  What looked him back was a simple pair of buns and patty.  It almost brought a tear to his eye.  Altean and alien food was still good, but sometimes you just got a craving for the old fast food.  More when you couldn’t get any.

 

“Hold on Hunk,” Shiro cautioned him.  “Is there anything we need to know about the ingredients?”

 

“Nope,” Other Hunk said.  “Made from 100% all natural space beef and space wheat.”

 

“Is there any particular reason for the ‘space’ suffix?”

 

“Because they were grown in space?”

 

“Everything’s in space!” Keith practically exploded.  “You don’t say space-Earth or Space-Human!”

 

“Hey, man,” Hunk said, “calm down and just have a nice space burger.”   _ That smell alone!  Mmmh!   _ “Hey, got any space fries to go with this?  Oh!  Space ketchup too?”

 

“Man,” other Lance spoke up, “no space cows?  Your universe sure is weird.”

 

“And why do your clothes keep changing?”

 

_ Huh? _  Hunk looked over at the Voltron Force.  They were now in civ clothes despite never leaving the room.   _ Huh.  Well they brought space burgers so they’re alright in my book.   _ “Have to say, nice fashion sense, Hunk.”

 

“Thanks Hunk.  How’re the burgers?”

 

Hunk took a bite.  “Delicious!”   _ Aw yeah, that’s the stuff. _

 

“Glad to hear it!”  Other Hunk and Other Pidge started to dig in.

 

Hunk was halfway through his burger when he noticed Keith and Shiro weren’t.  “Come on guys, it’s great!”

 

“I’ll pass,” Keith gave the expected answer.

 

Shiro hesitated for a moment.  “It’s been too long since I’ve had a good burger.”  He swiped the closest one and took a quick bit.  “Oh, man, I’ve missed Earth food.”

 

“No Alliance supply routes out here yet?” Other Keith said.

 

“Alliance?” Shiro stopped eating.

 

“Galaxy Alliance?  You know, the multi-galactic union of planets with the expressed design for mutual protection and space exploration?”

 

That got even Hunk to stop eating.  “Uhhh, not familiar with it”

 

That was the first time the members of the Voltron Force looked serious.  “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Other Lance said.  “Oh man, this is bad.  Real bad.”

 

“What about Galaxy Garrison?” Other Keith asked.

 

“Well, we have one of those,” Shiro answered.  “It’s the solar system space exploration program on Earth.”

 

“And not the center of military and exploratory efforts among the universe?”  Other Keith leaned back.  “That has to make things pretty tough for you guys.  Good job holding out this long.”

 

Shiro nodded.  “It hasn’t been easy, cut off from home, and burgers.”  He smirked a bit at that.  “Fighting against the Galra’s never easy, but knowing you guys cleared them up certainly makes it seem possible.”

 

The Voltron Force exchanged glances with each other again.

 

_ That can’t be good. _

 

“Who the heck are the Galra?” Other Pidge asked.

 

“Galra are—” Shiro stopped himself for a moment, “our name, for Emperor Zarkon’s forces.”

 

_ Right, just like Shiro and Sven or Altea and Arus! _

 

“Where we come from, King Zarkon’s forces are part of the greater Drule Empire.”

 

_ Drool should be saved for a nice hot meal. _  “So, you uh, beat these Drule guys too, right?”

 

“The conflict with the Drule Empire continues across the universe, unfortunately.  Our defeat of King Zarkon and Planet Doom were victories, but war still rages on.”

 

This nearly killed his appetite.  Galra were bad enough, but alien-behind-the-alien?

 

“I don’t think we’ll have to deal with these Drules,” Shiro proposed.  “From the make of it, the Galra are our universe’s version.”

 

“I sure hope so,” Hunk added.

 

“I agree with Shiro,” Coran spoke up.  Spooking Hunk, he’d completely forgot about him!  “I’ve never heard of any race called ‘the Drules’.”

 

“It does give me an idea though,” said Shiro.  “Coran, the Alteans were diplomats, correct?”

 

Coran puffed his chest out.  “Universe’s best!”

 

“Any old allies happen to be laying around?”

 

Coran’s bluster was replaced with a frown.  “Unfortunately no, Emperor Zarkon was thorough in exterminating anyone who would dare stand against him.”

 

“Well,” said Hunk, “he missed you two.  And the Balmerans are still around.”

 

“You’re suggesting others managed to hide?  Hmmm, yeah, I can see it, maybe, but still, it’s been ten thousand years, any old alliances would have crumbled away by now.  Even the Eternats don’t keep promises that long.”

 

“But we have Voltron now!” Hunk exclaimed.  “And like, taken planets back.”   _ Well, one. _

 

“Zarkon, you, and the princess have all survived this long too,” Shiro reminded him.  “It wouldn’t hurt to check in on anyone else that might be continuing the fight.”

 

“I’ll bring it up with the princess then,” Coran agreed.  “But I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

 

_ Oh, gee wow, the family thing. _  “Hey, come on now, we’ve all survived run-ins with Galra, sure we had Voltron, but your folks had plenty of experience!”   _ Hopefully. _

 

“Experience didn’t save the king.”

 

“But it saved the lions,” Shiro adamantly declared.  “I got outta their pits and Pidge’s family is still alive somewhere too.  Someone will always be there to take up the fight, Voltron or not.”

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Other Hunk leaned forward.  “Your Pidge’s family is in the clutches of those dirty Galra guys!?”

 

Shiro nodded.  “Pidge’s father, brother and I were kidnapped on a mission to Pluto.”

 

Other Pidge nearly leapt up on the table!  “That’s unforgivable!

 

That news sent the Other Keith forward too.  “The Drules and Doom expanded pretty badly, but we never had trouble in our own solar system.”

 

Hunk tried not to think about what Galra would do if they got to Earth.  They were so close!  Mom, dad—everyone!  Did they take over Earth when they didn’t grab the blue lion?

 

“I take it from the situation you’re not in contact with your Earth, either?”  Other Keith asked.

 

“The Lions might be able to get us back,” said Shiro, “but if Earth’s been ignored, we’d be painting a big target on their backs.”

 

Hunk’s eyes lit up!  “Hey!” he exclaimed.  “Pidge was able to get some sort of tracker for your escape and arrival!  She and I might be able to rig something up.”

 

“Good thought, but how would they receive it on their end?”

 

“Oh, oh, right.”  Not a lot of geniuses of Pidge’s caliber back home.  Maybe someone in the Garrison could pick up on it, they got to Shiro first after all, but then they’d all just get chewed out by Commander Iverson.

 

The Other Pidge started looking around.  “Hey, wait, did I hear you guys right?” he asked.  “You called your Pidge a girl!”

 

This was probably a question they all should have expected.  “Yeah,” Hunk answered.

 

“Huh.”  Other Pidge settled down.  “Guess mom gave the name to my sister instead of me or Chip here.  Or, I guess there might be no me or Chip here.”

 

“Well,” said Shiro, “Pidge chose the name herself to go undercover at Galaxy Garrison to try and get information about her missing family.”

 

“She, Lance and I were a team!” Hunk added.

 

“That’s the ‘can-do’ attitude a Voltron pilot needs!”  Other Pidge cheered at them.  “And it means we don’t have to worry about anything weird with Princess.”

 

_ I mean, you shouldn't assume… _  “That’s really more Lance’s thing anyway.”

 

“What!?” Other Pidge leapt over the table to the door everyone else left through.  “Wait for me Princess!” he yelled and ran off.

 

“Yeesh, he’s real fired up,” Other Lance said.

 

“Without King Zarkon to worry about he’s sure free,” said Other Keith.

 

The Other Lance looked the Paladins over.  “So, those three were a team, and you were active duty, what’s up with Mister Crossed Arms there?”

 

“I don’t have to answer you,” Keith didn’t answer.

 

“Gotta add Mister Personality to that too.”

 

“Listen,” Keith stomped forward, “I don’t trust you—any of you.  This can still end up being some Galra trick, so I’ve got my eye on you.”

 

“That why are you letting Pidge run around free?”

 

“He's got you there Keith,” said Hunk.

 

“Look, Keith,” said Shiro.  “I appreciate the suspicion, but we also have to trust if we want to stop Zarkon.”

 

“And who better to trust than an alternate universe version of ourselves?” Hunk added.

 

Keith looked everyone over like they were all idiots.  Hurtful.  


 

_ Yeesh, what’s up with him?  He’s usually so more… not level-headed… but hot-headed isn't right either.  I mean, he did try and rescue Shiro by himself, that is pretty hot-headed and he always seems ready to fight.  Oh!  _  “I think all this fighting’s got you on edge Keith.”   _ More edge than usual, anyway.   _ “Come on, a nice space burger will get your mind off things.”

 

“No thanks,” Keith practically spat and turned away.  “I’m going to keep an eye on the fake Pidge.  Find me when you all come to your senses.”  He hurried off after him.

 

First the princess and now Keith, who’s turn next was it to be so abrasive?  “Well, Keith’s poor manners aside, these are some pretty delicious space burgers you got here!”  Hunk finished his off just to prove the point.  “His lose if he doesn’t want any.”

 

“I even got’em with the special sauce!”  Other Hunk exclaimed.

 

“What’s so special about it?” Coran asked.

 

“It’s a mystery.”

 

“Shouldn’t it be a ‘mystery sauce’ than?”

 

Hunk shook his head.  “It’s special because it’s a mystery.  The answer you don’t know is more memorable than what you do know.”

 

Coran snapped his fingers.  “I get it, just like the great Altean novel ‘ _ No One Knows _ ’.”

 

“What’s it about?”

 

“No one knows.  Its contents have changed with every reading and they’re never the same twice.”

 

“Whoa, freaky.”  Hunk grabbed another burger.  “Do you have a copy on board?”

 

Coran shook his head.  “The only known copy was back on Altea.  I’ve got a couple personal knock-offs on the down-low, but between you and me and everyone else here, they’re not quite as good.”

 

Well that sucked.  But, “Hey, what about an Altean cookbook?  I’m always looking to expand my cuisine horizons.”  He should have thought of that earlier!  But between all that terror and fear for their lives and the fighting and saving and bad things it’d skipped his mind.

 

“We don’t really cook so much as select from prepared meals on the ship’s computer.”

 

_ That explains the hose. _  “Well, I think it’s time we changed that.  Can’t fight on an empty stomach.”

 

“Yeah!”  Other Hunk agreed.

 

“Or with broken lions,” he continued.  “Gotta make sure they’re in tip-top shape since we have someone to actually cover for us and all.”

 

“Sure thing pal!”

 

“Hold on, Hunk,” said Shiro.  “We shouldn’t go asking things of our guests.”

 

“Gotta ask the princess too,” Coran added.

 

“Voltron’s the Defender no matter what universe,” said Other Keith.  “We’d be proud to stand alongside you and fight for peace across the galaxy.”

 

Coran took a step forward.  “What about your Coran’s family?”

 

“It hurts, but lives in jeopardy are more important.  Coran would understand.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what the pilots of Voltron have to do.”  

 

“And maybe when your Emperor Zarkon is defeated, and the universe at peace, you could help us look.  Two Voltrons is good enough already, but three would be even better!”

 

“Uhhhh,” Hunk droned, “what?”  He had to exchange glances with Shiro and Coran at that.  “Oh, I get it, hey, here, two is the number after one.  Me and Shiro, would be two, just like our Voltrons would be two Voltrons.”  Sure, they looked the same, and were 80% them, but that 20% difference could be something as simple as math.

 

The Other guys all laughed in unison.  Like, really in unison.  End-of-comedy-everything’s-all-wrapped-up unison.  It was really creepy to hear.

 

“Two is two regardless of universe,” said Other Keith.  “Our Voltron is ‘one’, your Voltron is ‘two’ and the vehicle team is ‘three’.”

 

“Vehicle team?” Shiro asked.

 

“Earth’s attempt to imitate Arus’s Voltron.  With planes and cars and submarines.  Fifteen vehicles, fifteen pilots and one heckuva Voltron combine.”

 

_ Man, they even had two Voltrons? _  “Well, our castle flies, does yours?”

 

“During our final assault on Planet Doom it did.”

 

“Awwww man,” Hunk slumped over.  No Galra, two Voltrons and space burgers?  Why couldn’t he have been that universe’s Hunk?  But then again all the space burgers in the universe weren’t worth losing out on Shay, or any of his other pals.  And these guys were here now.  “Alright, but do you guys have…”  Hunk wracked his brain for something.  “Space Mice?”

 

“They’re Allura’s best friends.  Ahead of us even.”

 

_ Ahead of Lance I could get, but everyone?   _ “How about, uhhhh.”   _ Think, Hunk, think! _  “What about Balmerans?  I bet you don’t have any of them?”   _ Please? _

 

“Never heard the name before.”

 

_ Yes! _  Why was he so relieved?  Why was he so competitive?  That wasn’t like him.  Huh.   “And your Arusians are pretty different from ours too.  And... “  He spotted something obvious.  “I don’t think you guys have got bayards either.”

 

“Bayards?”

 

“Is that how Keith got a sword out of nowhere?” Other Lance asked.

 

Hunk didn’t feel the need to say he’d seen the Other guys change clothes between blinks.  “Yeah, we got these fancy bayards that change into weapons if we just think hard enough.”

 

“Pretty cool.”

 

“And they help make weapons on Voltron.”

 

“Huh, our weapons just appear.  Kind of like your bayards, now that you mention it.”

 

“So, if your guys don’t have bayards, what do you fight with, on foot?”

 

Other Lance pulled out a genuine blaster.  “More than capable of stunning any doombot that tries anything funny.  Not that there’s anything funny about’em, ‘sides their looks.”

 

“Wait,” said Shiro, his face a mask of seriousness, “there’s something super important I have to ask.”

 

Everyone put aside their idle chat to listen to the severe matter.

 

“What do they sound like?  Because it’s totally ‘blam blam blam’, right?”


	5. An Alliance is Formed

Keith ran down the halls of the castle-ship.  He wasn’t wrong, no matter how much they looked at him like he was.  How could they just blindly trust that other Voltron so easily?    
  
You fight like a Galra.  
  
The quintessence on his hand.  
  
Keith slowed down and eventually stopped.  He took out his knife and looked it over.  
  
The constant battles had pushed aside the whys to the back of his mind, but the fake Voltron had dragged it back to light.  Nagged at him, and he couldn’t fully articulate why.  Just, that he’d forgotten something.  Something important.  Something he didn’t want to remember.  
  
And that wasn’t even the worst thought eating at his mind.  
  
“Hey, Keith, got a minute?” Shiro called out to him.  
  
“Yeah,” Keith put his knife away, “what do you need?”  
  
“Think I know what’s got you all riled up.”  
  
Which? “And?”  
  
Shiro smirked and put his arm around him.  “Look man, I get it.  You see another Voltron coming in without me at the helm, and taking the past into consideration…” he trailed off to let the implication play out.  
  
He didn’t want to lose Shiro.  He didn’t want to replace Shiro.    
  
“For what it’s worth, you’d make a good leader if you did take over.”  
  
“Don’t say something like that.”  
  
“It’s true, man.”  
  
I’m not gonna replace you.  
  
“Look,” Shiro got serious, “I’m not saying ‘don’t be suspicious’, we’ve been bitten by blind trust before, but give’em the benefit of the doubt unless they try something.”  
  
“Fine,” he said.  “I’ll play along.”  
  
“Good,” Shiro removed his arm and that feeling of security that came with it.  “Let’s head back, Pidge has a report.”  
  
“Which Pidge?”  
  
“Our Pidge.  Their Pidge somehow circled back around you.”  
  
There was no way that Other Pidge could have looped back around without running into him.  And the way their clothes just kept randomly changing…  Or the Other Lance’s ridiculous leap even in space.  It was like the laws of physics and common sense didn’t apply to them.  
  
‘Still worried?” Shiro asked.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“It’s why I waited to come get you.  Didn’t wanna ‘leave the teams unbalanced’ so to speak.”  
  
Who knows what they were planning.  “I’m good now.”  
  
Shiro flashed a smile.  “Glad to hear it.  Come on.”  
  
The two of them headed back, right into an overeager Pidge.  
  
“All right folks, strap in, we’re about to get ‘SCIENCE!’ up in here.”  Pidge linked with the castle systems to display a holographic representation of the lion data she’d acquired.  “So, in case it wasn’t obvious enough, the two systems the lion pairs run on are similar.  The, uh, Arus lions have a much more rudimentary set of code, like sixty years out-of-date.”  
  
“Whoa,” Hunk gasped.  “How do they, y’know, work?”  
  
“I’m leaning heavily on Arus crystal power as a theory.  More importantly, what I could discern was eerily similar to what’s going on with our lions.  So, it wouldn’t be an outside chance for King Alfor to have a back-up AI installed in our lions.  
  
“Which means it’s up to Coran and I to investigate,” said Allura.  
  
Pidge smirked.  “Not quite.”  She looked over at the other Allura.  “If… Allura can get her father’s AI to come out, we might be able to get him to communicate with our lions and see if our hopes hold any water.”  
  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Keith interrupted them.  “Even discounting the chances of a virus, the differences you’re stating between our tech levels might burn out the other lions.”  If they were on the level, they shouldn’t damage them.  
  
“I can handle any Galra-virus if it crops up, and if I throttle the transfer lines, I can make sure neither set of lions handles more than they’re capable.”  
  
Shiro nodded.  “So we’re good on our end,” he said.  “It’s up to you guys if you want to risk your lions helping us.”  
  
“We risk the lions with every engagement,” that Other Keith said  “This would be no different.”  
  
“My father would be thrilled to help anyone, no matter what,” Other Allura said.  The other members of the Force followed suit.  “It’s unanimous then.”  
  
“Thank you, truely,” said Allura.  
  
“That goes for all of us,” Shiro added on.  
  
“When do you want to get started?” the Other Keith asked.  
  
“I’ll leave Pidge to work out those details, but first, I think we could all use a good rest.  Zarkon’s forces have been relentless the past few days.”  
  
The Other Keith nodded.  “I understand.”  
  
“So,” the Other Lance piped up, “how’s the quality of service in this tub?”  
  
“Er, do-it-yourself?” said Shiro.  
  
“So no platters of food carried in by a bevy of maids, huh?”  
  
Some things never change it seems.  
  
Allura shot him a glare but it was Coran who spoke up first.  “Why see here you otherworldly ne’er-do-well!” he fumed.  “Manners might not be standard in your universe but here we have a little thing called decorum and ‘reading the mood’.”  
  
“Lance that was very inappropriate,” the Other Allura chided him.  
  
“Yeah!”  Lance added on.  
  
“Yeesh, you people here are way too serious.  You need to lighten up,” the Other Lance yucked.  
  
“Hey, we’re plenty light-hearted around here,” said Hunk.  
  
“We typically save our fun when our lives aren’t in danger,” said Shiro.  
  
“Not that it stops Lance,” said Keith.  
  
“Hey!”  
  
The Other Keith looked at his Lance.  “I think you owe the princess an apology, Lance.”  
  
Part of Keith almost wanted to see him not try.  
  
“Hey, I’m just joshing, no need to get so worked up.”  
  
“I’m certain you’ve never felt otherwise,” Allura coldly rebuked him.  
  
The Other Lance scratched the back of his head.  “Makin’ me out to be the bad guy here.  Fine, I’m sorry, OK?  Didn’t mean anything by it.”  
  
That’s a pretty lousy apology.  
  
“In the interest of peace, I’ll take it,” said Allura.  
  
“That’s real swell of you.”  
  
Allura’s eye roll was anything but subtle.    
  
“Well, let’s see if we can coax out that Alfor AI.”  Pidge was more than ready to dig deeper into the crystal systems.  
  
“Much as I’d like to see my father again, you paladins need your rest.  You’ve been fighting too much recently.”  
  
“I can work through it.”  Pidge and Hunk had pulled plenty of all-nighters before.  As much as night existed on a spaceship, anyway.  
  
“I know, but can you work on the lions, then head out to pilot should Zarkon attack?”  
  
Pidge frowned with a look that only meant no.  “Fine, you made your point.”  
  
“You want us to take up protecting the castle while you get some sleep?” the Other Keith offered.  
  
“No,” said Keith.  
  
“I think it’d be better to have active duty divided between the Paladins and the Force,” Shiro amended.  “We need some downtime but we don’t know how our universe will affect your team.”  
  
“Well, nothing’s happened so far, but I understand your concern.  Hunk, Lance, you two stay up.”  
  
“Gotcha, Chief,” the two of them replied.  
  
“Keith, you and I will stay up on our side.”  
  
“I’ll join you,” Coran added.  
  
“Coran,” said Allura, “would you show our newest guests to some furnished quarters?”  
  
“You got a room big enough to fit all of us?” the Other Keith asked.  
  
“All of you,” Coran gave them a full look over, “in the same room?”  
  
“We’re used to it,” said Other Pidge.  “‘Sides this way we’re not bothering anyone knocking on doors in the middle of the night for shift changes.”  
  
“Really,” said Allura, “we’ve the space to quarter you all separately.”  She eyed her counterpart.  
  
“I wasn’t included in their request,” Other Allura replied.  “It would be lovely to have a room for myself, thank you.”  
  
“You’re welcome.  Coran, if you would lead the men.”  
  
“Of course, Princess.  Follow me lads!  I’ll have you set up with the finest storeroom-turned-bedroom the castle has ever seen!  Also the only one, but we make do.”  
  
“After me, Princess,” Allura said.  
  
Everyone headed out to do their new tasks, leaving Shiro and Keith with the Other Hunk and Pidge.  
  
Other Hunk broke the silence, “So, whaddya guys do for fun around here?”  
  
“We fight robots,” Shiro answered.  
  
“Cool.”  
  


* * *

  
The rituals and manipulations of Haggar and her druids surged throughout the spacious chamber.  Their focused intent: empowering their lord and master within the center platform of the room.  Backlash rooted out weakness from the druids, leaving only the strongest of the order to further the cause of the Galra.  
  
Each second brought him closer to his goal.  Each second only served to reinforce the might he held.  No other could handle such power.  Power enough to crush a lion.  None but he.  Such power that would force him to his knees would destroy any other.  And with that power came guided purpose.  Black Lion called to him.  
  
Alfor’s replacements would be dealt with soon enough.  
  
“Your Majesty.”  
  
Haggar’s voice broke into his trance.  “Set course for the Omnia System.  Black Lion is waiting.”  
  
“There is another issue demanding your attention.”  
  
“You do not make demands of me.”  
  
“Of course not, Sire,” she replied, low as her voice could get.  “It is another.”  
  
“Deal with the fool.”  The Galra did not need so one arrogant enough to interrupt the search.  
  
“We cannot.  This transmission comes from across the dimensional walls.”  
  
The source!  Or Alteans who escaped his justice.  “Bring it to me.”  
  
“Of course, Sire.”  Her powers shrouded the room leaving but him in view.  Alone.  Powerful.  A viewscreen formed, and with it an unsightly guise.  Pallid purple and ridged nose, webbed ears and cracking, rock-like skin.  A crown of gold, spiked upwards, and shoulders were covered in a bright red cloak.  
  
“It seems underlings are incompetent no matter what dimension it is,” the fool said.  
  
“Speak your purpose before I destroy you.”  
  
“To the point it is.  Good.  I tire of the ring-around.  I am King Zarkon of Planet Doom.”  
  
Blasphemy.  Faker.  Imitator.  Inferior.  Fool.  
  
Words floated in the dark.  
  
“You address Emperor Zarkon, Supreme Ruler of the Galra Empire.”  Your better.  
  
“Ha!  No matter the dimension Zarkon will always be victorious!”  
  
“Do not compare yourself to your better.”  
  
“I’m not.”  
  
The moment it was possible he would slay this cretin.  
  
“I’ve a little news on a big robot named Voltron that any Zarkon would be interested in having.”  
  
“I have no need of whatever outdated information you possess.”  If any.  
  
“Not even, that you currently face TWO Voltrons?”  
  
“Whatever ploy you speak of is irrelevant.  There is only one Voltron.”  Mine.  
  
The false king laughed at the very notion.  “That isn’t even true in my universe.  But five robot lions forming one awesome robot is what I’m talking about.”  
  
The tale of Voltron inspired meaningless hope across even universes it would seem.  “To the point.”  
  
“I’m certain a Zarkon of your stature is more than aware of the difficulties in crushing those pesky cats.  I’m here to offer my assistance in solving our mutual problems.”  
  
“I’ve no need of your paltry assistance in handling Voltron.”  
  
“Obviously you do.  If I cannot defeat Voltron than some cheap knock-off surely couldn’t.”  
  
“Haggar,” Zarkon whispered beyond the fake’s hearing, “search for this imitator so that I can crush him.”  
  
“Yes, Sire.”  
  
The fake leaned back into his opulent throne, condescension sneering across his face.  “But I come today with a proposal.  I have a doom fleet, you probably have a doom fleet.  Together we have two doom fleets if you can do the math.”  
  
Zarkon was going to enjoy strangling the life out of this lackwit.  
  
“Two doom fleets might be enough to put an end to those pesky robot lions once and for all.  Add a few Robeasts on top of that and maybe we can crush the Galaxy Alliance in the action.”  
  
Zarkon scoffed.  “If you are so pathetic as to let your enemies rally against you I have no need of your ‘fleet’.”  
  
“And yet your Voltron isn’t a pile of scrap metal either or you wouldn’t be listening.”  
  
The imposter had forgone his true calling as a jester.  “If I wanted Voltron destroyed I would have done so ages ago.”  
  
“Ahhh, you want the robot’s power for yourself is it?  How wonderfully loathsome.  But that’ll be plenty difficult with two Voltrons flying around.”  
  
It would not.  Alfor’s replacements were of no consequence.  But this did present an opportunity all its own.  “Perhaps,” he lied.  “We should align our interests.”  No matter how fool he was, he’d implied he had the ability to cross dimensions.  A power that should rightfully rest with the proper Zarkon.

* * *

  
King Zarkon cackled when the “negotiations” with that ugly Zarkon were concluded.  “Once We dispose of the Voltrons that arrogant fool is next!”  He loved being evil!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only three days after the last chapter!  
> Plus a year.


End file.
